Page 1 Community College of Philadelphia Spring 2012 Syllabus PSYC 101 Online: Intro to Psych (3 credits) CRN: 15085 Section: 903 About the Professor I welcome the opportunity to meet my online students face-to-face; we can make an appointment to meet on campus or can talk via phone. Please contact me immediately if you have any problems, questions, or concerns: Please don’t wait! Email is the best and fastest way to reach me, followed by office hours or a scheduled appointment. Please note that all email communication should come from WebStudy’s email. If you cannot access WebStudy’s email for some reason, email me at [email protected]. Generally, I log on to the course at least once a day, every day except Saturdays. If you email me, you can expect an answer within 24 to 48 hours. Please be sure that you check your WebStudy email every time you log on as this is how I will communicate important announcements and information to you. Required Materials - Textbook: Discovering Psychology (5th edition) by Hockenbury and Hockenbury. ISBN-13: 978-1429216500 ** The study guide available is very helpful but not required. - Internet Access: Regular and reliable access to the internet and a back-up option to access the online “classroom” at WebStudy. - Technical Requirements: For information about the minimum computer needs for WebStudy, go to http://ccp.edu/site/de/Technical_Requirements.pdf. Any needed plug-ins can be accessed from http://ccp.webstudy.com/ - PowerPoint: This series will have PowerPoint; if you don’t have this software, you can get a PowerPoint viewer at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=048dc840-14e1-467d-8dca-19d2a8fd7485&displaylang=en Name Mrs. Melissa St. Pierre, M.S. Phone 215-751-8448 Office BR-21 Email Use Webstudy’s email (if not available, use [email protected]) Office Hours Tuesdays & Thursdays 11 am to 12 pmPage 2 Course Information Course Description: This course focuses on the scientific study of human and animal behavior, including mental processes. Among the subjects studied are the effect of the body on behavior, how people think and learn, what motivates individuals, how children grow and develop, and what makes people behave abnormally. Online Course Delivery/Structure: There are no required on-campus meetings - we will work entirely on-line through the course management system, WebStudy. This course is NOT self-paced so you cannot work through the semester’s work at your own pace. Instead, a new set of assignments will become available every week and there will be specific deadlines you must meet within each week. A new week will begin every Tuesday at 12:01 am (when many of us are sleeping) and end the following Monday at 11:50 pm. You will access your weekly assignments through the Timeline Tab in WebStudy. Each timeline session will equal one week, for a total of 15 Timeline Sessions. Within each of these 15 weeks, you will have firm deadlines you must meet, which will be provided in each weekly session in the Timeline Tab. *NOTE: Students often mistakenly think that online courses will have less work because you don’t have to sit through 3 hours of a class each week. This is not the case! To make up for not having class time, you will have other work you complete independently; therefore, you will need to commit about 6 to 9 hours a week on this class to be successful. Prerequisites: Students taking this course should be ENGL 101 ready – you need to be eligible to take ENGL 101 but don’t have to have already taken it. There will also be a lot of reading and writing required so you should be strong in these skills. For an online course, it is important that you are comfortable performing certain tasks with computers, such as saving documents to your computer/flash drive, sending and receiving emails with attachments, and browsing the internet. If you have poor reading and writing skills or you are uncomfortable with computers, you may struggle in the online classroom and an online course may not be your best option. Student Learning Outcomes: Students who successfully complete this course will be able to: 1. Define psychology as a science in terms of its history, theories, methods, applied areas, and ethical issues. 2. Describe the structure and function of the nervous system as the biological basis of behavior and cognition. 3. Demonstrate an understanding of the major perspectives of psychology (e.g., behavioral, biological, cognitive, evolutionary, humanistic, psychodynamic, and socio-cultural). 4. Apply the major theoretical perspectives to an understanding of personality, lifespan development, abnormal behavior, and psychotherapy. 5. Describe a variety of careers in psychology and how psychology is applied to many areas of life and work today.Page 3 Work to Do and Grading Information As a reminder, you are not required to ever go to campus. We will work completely on-line through WebStudy. This course is NOT self-paced; there will be specific deadlines you must meet every week. A new week will begin every Tuesday at 12:01 am (when most are sleeping) and end the following Monday at 11:50 pm. Each timeline session will equal one week, for a total of 15 Timeline Sessions. Thus, our weeks will run from Tuesdays through Mondays, except Week 15 which will end on a Friday. Within each week, you will have firm deadlines you must meet, which will be provided in each weekly session in the Timeline Tab. WebStudy’s Calendar is not accurate with due dates - follow the due dates given in each Timeline Session! Each Timeline Session will list the objectives for the week and explain the work you’ll complete, with firm deadlines, to meet these objectives. You will participate in various learning activities each week that serve to help you meet the objectives of the course, each explained below: - Textbook Readings: Every week, you will read a chapter from the text. You should use the Reading Questions provided each Timeline Session as your guide. You are NOT required to submit your reading questions to me for a grade. I created them to help you focus your reading. If a section from a chapter is not included or referenced on the Reading Questions, you are not required to read it or know. - Homework Assignments: You will complete a variety of homework assignments during the semester to help you